I was looking at pics of it on google the other day. It seems they are trying to right it. If I remember correctly they have covered the hole where the rock tore into it and I guess they are trying to refloat it very very slowly.

More importantly, what has happened to the captain? Have they let him off or is the trial still going? Newspapers seem to have lost interest in the story.

I doubt it will float again. The amount of overall work required seems too great. The insides of the ship have been dipping in seawater for a year now.

they would have to strip it down completely and rebuild its insides from the ground up. Seems not worth the effort, and likely as expensive as building a new one. Add to that the cost of recovery...
But then I don't know much about maritime economics.

Quoting babybus (Reply 1):More importantly, what has happened to the captain? Have they let him off or is the trial still going? Newspapers seem to have lost interest in the story.

That is a shambles and a joke to be honest. If there was the death penalty he should get it but he is now claiming that he will Captain a ship in future ! Sometimes I dont understand the justice in this world . He has blood on his hands and should be in prison for life.

I was actually on one of the Sister ships the week before last and the crew say the company has gone way down since the Concordia. Judging by the price I paid they seem to be finding it hard to fill their ships. I cant say the safety drill would leave me with much confidence either that we received onboard.

Also I couldnt help notice the plating that covered the huge gash that ripped through part of the ship in an accident back in December in Marseille.

Quoting OA260 (Reply 11):Yes I noticed a slight dent when I was waiting for a shuttle bus at a port of call one day

Slight "dent" ? Are you kidding ? That's absolutely the sorriest looking example of metal work I have ever seen in my life !

Looking at that pathetic "excuse" for a repair, I wouldn't set foot on that ship while it was tied up to a pier; any company that would accept such slovenly work as that on a sea-going vessel deserves to go out of business, (and probably will.)

Charley

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

Quoting OA260 (Reply 4):. If there was the death penalty he should get it

I don't believe in the death penalty but I can almost agree here. When Francesco Schettino, the captain, was on a life boat on his way away from the Concordia he was in radio contact with the Italian Coast Guard. Here is an excerpt of their conversation. De Falco is the Coast Guard commander.

De Falco: "This is De Falco speaking from Livorno. Am I speaking with the commander?"

Schettino: "Yes. Good evening, Cmdr De Falco."

De Falco: "Please tell me your name."

Schettino: "I'm Cmdr Schettino, commander."

De Falco: "Schettino? Listen Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now you go with your boat under the prow on the starboard side. There is a pilot ladder. You will climb that ladder and go on board. You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear? I'm recording this conversation, Cmdr Schettino …"

Schettino: "Commander, let me tell you one thing …"

De Falco: "Speak up! Put your hand in front of the microphone and speak more loudly, is that clear?"

Schettino: "In this moment, the boat is tipping …"

De Falco: "I understand that, listen, there are people that are coming down the pilot ladder of the prow. You go up that pilot ladder, get on that ship and tell me how many people are still on board. And what they need. Is that clear? You need to tell me if there are children, women or people in need of assistance. And tell me the exact number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Listen Schettino, that you saved yourself from the sea, but I am going to … really do something bad to you … I am going to make you pay for this. Go on board, (expletive)!"

Schettino: "Commander, please …"

De Falco: "No, please. You now get up and go on board. They are telling me that on board there are still …"

Schettino: "I am here with the rescue boats, I am here, I am not going anywhere, I am here …"

De Falco: "What are you doing, commander?"

Schettino: "I am here to co-ordinate the rescue …"

De Falco: "What are you co-ordinating there? Go on board! Co-ordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?"

Schettino: "No, I am not refusing."

De Falco: "Are you refusing to go aboard, commander? Can you tell me the reason why you are not going?"

Schettino: "I am not going because the other lifeboat is stopped."

De Falco: "You go aboard. It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'abandon ship'. Now I am in charge. You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me? Go, and call me when you are aboard. My air rescue crew is there."

Schettino: "Where are your rescuers?"

De Falco: "My air rescue is on the prow. Go. There are already bodies, Schettino."

Schettino: "How many bodies are there?"

De Falco: "I don't know. I have heard of one. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are. Christ!"

Schettino: "But do you realise it is dark and here we can't see anything …"

De Falco: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!"

Schettino: "… I am with my second in command."

De Falco: "So both of you go up then … You and your second go on board now. Is that clear?"

Schettino: "Commander, I want to go on board, but it is simply that the other boat here … there are other rescuers. It has stopped and is waiting …"

De Falco: "It has been an hour that you have been telling me the same thing. Now, go on board. Go on board! And then tell me immediately how many people there are there."

Schettino: "OK, commander."

De Falco: "Go, immediately!"

***He never even changed direction to go back on board***

After this conversation Captain Schettino ended up on shore and took a taxi cab to a local hotel where he'd been caught by reporters and he told them that he believed that he was the last one off of the ship. A blatant lie.

So ignoring the errors he made at sea, what happened after I believe should seal his fate in prison for the rest of his life. 32 people died. He did not act like a Captain but like a 1st class coward. Let's keep in mind that this ship is many times larger than the Titanic.

Although I believe that the company should be held responsible to some degree because they encouraged these show off close to shore 'drive by's'...

Quoting Aesma (Reply 17):I'm guessing they have a better cut and replace job planned for later.

Does that matter when they are taking thousands of passengers on board? Later should be before another passenger stands foot on board. Dry dock it, fix it properly. What's the problem? Especially with the reputation of the line to date they should not sending ships out looking like that.

I'm not guessing when I made that statement.......I spent 4 years in the U.S.N. doing exactly that kind of work; heavy metal fabrication and welding on ships and submarines.

Quoting Aesma (Reply 17):I'm guessing they have a better cut and replace job planned for later.

I'm sure they do; but you DON'T make a "temporary repair" on a sea-going vessel, then load it up with unsuspecting passengers, and send it on a "cruise" BEFORE you make the necessary, proper repair ! That's the whole problem with the whole "Cruise" industry; it's ALL about "making money" NOW, and we'll fix the ship "right" when it's "convenient".

Would you want to board an airliner that had just had a collision with another plane on the ramp, and have the crew announce that "we're going to "repair" the plane properly when we get back to Europe. but right now we're in New York, and repair work is too expensive here" ?

I can't believe that any company owning and operating cruise ships would make such an obvious "tack on" a few plates repair, then moor the damn thing at a public pier, where every tourist coming by with a camera can take pictures of it !
I mean, they may as well take out an add in the local newspaper and say, "excuse our half-assed "temporary" repair, but rest assured, we plan to "fix it properly" when we get it back to Europe where we can do it MUCH more cheaply". Yeah, if it doesn't SINK on the way there !

Charley

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein

The ship is undergoing a process to remove it from the reef and transport it to a breaker's yard as others have noted with links with further details. It's position on a very steep reef, in a very environmentally sensitive area, the position the ship ended up in, the need to preserve evidence, not wanting to break/split the hull had caused a very long time and complex procedures needed to remove the ship.

As to the captain, the Italian Justice system is one that is very slow about getting to trials. I am not sure if they have the equivalent as in the USA of plea bargains, that is accepting guilt on a lesser degree of charges and penalties than initially chargeable with, but with 32 killed and Euro 750 Million or more in damages and potential lawsuit liability, there may be a huge desire by the public for him to face full charges and a full blown trial.

This 'Captain' was an arrogant fool and I hope he gets a true life sentence in jail. I also hope this disaster leads to as done with aircraft, there will be a mandates for Captains to follow routes strictly with only approved adjustments due to traffic or weather conditions, sterile operations rooms (like a cockpit), and polices like the = of CRM (Cockpit Resource Management) so other officers can challenge the captain without penalty if the Captain is using an improper procedure putting the passengers, crew and the ship in danger.

Quoting Geezer (Reply 19):Would you want to board an airliner that had just had a collision with another plane on the ramp, and have the crew announce that "we're going to "repair" the plane properly when we get back to Europe. but right now we're in New York, and repair work is too expensive here" ?

Actually this happens all the time, but there exists a procedure where the aircraft manufacturer or an approved design authority has to design and approve the repair, either on a one by one base or there even exists a temporary repair in the structural repair manual. This temporary repair will then be restricted, e.g. for a certain number of flight cycles or flight hours and it will be subject to a re-inspection schedule to assure that the damage will not progress.
E.g. one of our cargo jumbos got hit by a man lift operated by a dozy mechanic. There was a temporary patch repair carried out, which was checked and approved by Boeing, and which required an NDT inspection every few hundred flight hours, and at the net C-check the temporary patch was then replaced with a proper repair.

Quoting LTBEWR (Reply 20):
This 'Captain' was an arrogant fool and I hope he gets a true life sentence in jail. I also hope this disaster leads to as done with aircraft, there will be a mandates for Captains to follow routes strictly with only approved adjustments due to traffic or weather conditions, sterile operations rooms (like a cockpit), and polices like the = of CRM (Cockpit Resource Management) so other officers can challenge the captain without penalty if the Captain is using an improper procedure putting the passengers, crew and the ship in danger.

Towards the end of the old sailing ship days, just before radio became available (when the ships were often at sea for weeks without being able to be contacted by the owners and when the captain´s word was really law because he had to make ALL decisions), one owner of a fleet of merchant sailing ship (IIRC it was the Laeisz shipping company, the last big operator of sailing freighters) had the masters of his sailing ships stand in front of his desk when they visited his head offices in Hamburg, just to show them that there was still somebody above them and that they should not become too full of themselves.

This conversation is an all time maritime classic. Still unbelievable how Schettine acted that night. Undoubtedly he must be imprisoned for life, or, if the law does not allow that, 10 years at least for grave negligence, multiple negligent homicide and exceptional cowardice. A coward like should not even be in command of a Kindergarten.

I wonder what takes so long to imprison him. The evidence is so overwhelming every one in his clear mind must be surprised what the Italian justice system is doing for so long. Lawyers are paid very high, but reasonable speed isnt anything they are being paid for.

Quoting Redd (Reply 14):Although I believe that the company should be held responsible to some degree because they encouraged these show off close to shore 'drive by's'...

Not "the company", the managers in charge should be held responsible with their private property. Charge them with one year´s income. To punish "the company" only means that the "little employee" pays the price in the end.

This conversation is an all time maritime classic. Still unbelievable how Schettine acted that night. Undoubtedly he must be imprisoned for life, or, if the law does not allow that, 10 years at least for grave negligence, multiple negligent homicide and exceptional cowardice. A coward like should not even be in command of a Kindergarten.

I wonder what takes so long to imprison him. The evidence is so overwhelming every one in his clear mind must be surprised what the Italian justice system is doing for so long. Lawyers are paid very high, but reasonable speed isnt anything they are being paid for.

I´m quite sure that if Cmdr. De Falco had been physically present, he would have forced Cptn. Schettino to return to his duty at gunpoint (De Falco is a naval officer and as such most likely carries a sidearm).

What amazes me is the contempt he now has for the dead and the survivors of his ''adventure''. He is a coward and disgrace to his country and his company yet he still maintains he will be in command of a ship in future. I hope his fellow community and indeed countrymen realise what he has done and dis own him. Lets also hope that this ''culture'' is not tolerated by Costa Cruises and indeed the Carnival owners anymore.

Im not going to say I felt unsafe on my Pacifica cruise but lets say if there had have been an emergency it would have been a case of using your own knowledge rather than totally relying on the ships crew! Still it was always very rare that something would have happened as incidents happen on rare occsassions and the cruise ship industry is still one of the safest in terms of transport.

Quoting OA260 (Reply 24):
What amazes me is the contempt he now has for the dead and the survivors of his ''adventure''. He is a coward and disgrace to his country and his company yet he still maintains he will be in command of a ship in future. I hope his fellow community and indeed countrymen realise what he has done and dis own him. Lets also hope that this ''culture'' is not tolerated by Costa Cruises and indeed the Carnival owners anymore.

from what I understand former Cpt. Schettino is considered to be a national disgrace by most Italians. On the other hand I have lots of respect for the divers of the Italian Navy, Civil Defence and fire services, who had the very dangerous job of searching the sunk ship for survivors and victims and did so without complaint. They have big ones made of solid steel.

Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 25):On the other hand I have lots of respect for the divers of the Italian Navy, Civil Defence and fire services, who had the very dangerous job of searching the sunk ship for survivors and victims and did so without complaint. They have big ones made of solid steel.

Indeed one can only imagine the horror that they saw when they dived down there. Maybe Mr Schettino ( I wont afford him his title ) should be made to watch and see pictures of what they found ! May make him less smug.

Quoting LTBEWR (Reply 20):This 'Captain' was an arrogant fool and I hope he gets a true life sentence in jail. I also hope this disaster leads to as done with aircraft, there will be a mandates for Captains to follow routes strictly with only approved adjustments due to traffic or weather conditions, sterile operations rooms (like a cockpit), and polices like the = of CRM (Cockpit Resource Management) so other officers can challenge the captain without penalty if the Captain is using an improper procedure putting the passengers, crew and the ship in danger.

What amazes me, actually, is that this is not being done right now. I believe in some particularly busy ports, Rotterdam and Hong Kong coming to mind, that something like following airways is in place, but I don't think it's a general practice.

Yes, an arrogant fool and, for the rest of his hopefully miserable life, labelled as a complete coward. You couldn't find a better poster boy.

Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 25):from what I understand former Cpt. Schettino is considered to be a national disgrace by most Italians. On the other hand I have lots of respect for the divers of the Italian Navy, Civil Defence and fire services, who had the very dangerous job of searching the sunk ship for survivors and victims and did so without complaint. They have big ones made of solid steel.

The majority of the Concordia crew also performed admirably that fateful night. Shame their cowardly captain casts such a large shadow over them.

Quoting OA260 (Reply 26):Indeed one can only imagine the horror that they saw when they dived down there. Maybe Mr Schettino ( I wont afford him his title ) should be made to watch and see pictures of what they found ! May make him less smug.

I think Costa should have forced their emplyee Schettino to personally apologize to the families of the victims, and then fire him. This man has no honour whatsoever.

According to the Wikipedia article about the disaster, if found guilty on all counts, Cpt. "Cazzo" faces up to 2500 years in prison.

Quote:Criminal proceedings against officers

Captain Schettino (born 1960 in Meta, Naples), who had worked for Costa Cruises for 11 years,[175] and First Officer Ciro Ambrosio, were arrested.[45][62] The captain was detained on suspicion of manslaughter and for violations of the Italian Penal Code and Code of Navigation on three specifications: of his having caused the shipwreck "owing to ... imprudence, negligence and incompetence" resulting in deaths; having abandoned about 300 people "unable to fend for themselves"; and "not having been the last to leave" a shipwreck.[4][202] They were questioned on 14 January.[203] At the validation hearing of 17 January 2012 the Court of Grosseto charged Schettino and Ambrosio with the results from the records of investigation compiled immediately after the event, including the first report of the Coastguard of Porto Santo Stefano of 14 January 2012, the summary testimonial information given by the members of the ship's crew, the chronology of events of the Harbour Office of the Port of Livorno, the AIS recording on record, and the PG Annotation of the Harbour Office of the Port of Livorno.[4] Schettino was released from jail on 17 January but was placed under house arrest.[77] The house arrest order included an "absolute prohibition against going away or communicating by any means with persons other than his cohabitants."[4] On 7 February, the Court decided to continue Schettino's house arrest.[204] His pretrial hearing was scheduled for 20 March.[30] If convicted on all charges, Schettino could be sentenced to a prison term exceeding 2,500 years.[205] On 5 July Schettino was released from house arrest but mandated to reside in Meta di Sorrento.[206][207]

Officials were initially trying to determine why the ship did not issue a mayday and why it was navigating so close to the coast. The delay in the evacuation request was also unexplained.[208]

On 11 February, TG5 broadcast a video of the commotion on the bridge following the collision. In the video, when one officer said, "Passengers are getting into the life boats", Schettino responded "Vabbuò" (English: "All right"). The magistrate in charge of the inquiry remarked, "This is new to us – I've just seen it for the first time."[209]

On 19 February, the Associated Press reported that traces of cocaine had been found on Schettino's hair samples "but not within the hair strands or in his urine — which would have indicated he had used the drug".[210]

On 23 February, two additional charges, of "abandoning incapacitated passengers and failing to inform maritime authorities" were levied against Captain Schettino.[6] On 22 February, four officers who were on board and three managers of Costa Cruises were placed formally "under investigation" and "face charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and failing to communicate with maritime authorities".[211][212]

Quoting connies4ever (Reply 27): What amazes me, actually, is that this is not being done right now. I believe in some particularly busy ports, Rotterdam and Hong Kong coming to mind, that something like following airways is in place, but I don't think it's a general practice.

Major US ports have Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Services and Traffic Separation Schemes that function much like airways.

Unfortunately this disaster was the equivalent of deliberately flying an aircraft close to a mountain. No airway or ATC is going to fix that either.

Quoting na (Reply 22):This conversation is an all time maritime classic. Still unbelievable how Schettine acted that night. Undoubtedly he must be imprisoned for life, or, if the law does not allow that, 10 years at least for grave negligence, multiple negligent homicide and exceptional cowardice. A coward like should not even be in command of a Kindergarten.

I couldn't possibly agree more ! Personally, I'd like to see them hang the Idiot; What really gets to me is, you can never be completely certain about who might become a coward when they become frightened enough, but this cowardly fool not only ignored the fate of his passengers and crew, (which in and of it's self is sufficient reason to execute him, IMO ), he goes way beyond that and BRAGS that he will command a ship again ! If Schettino had any sense, (and he obviously doesn't), he would become "mute"; all the posturing he's doing is only digging the "hole" he's in, deeper.

Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 23):I´m quite sure that if Cmdr. De Falco had been physically present, he would have forced Cptn. Schettino to return to his duty at gunpoint (De Falco is a naval officer and as such most likely carries a sidearm).

Cmdr. De Falco is a very good example of what a REAL Commander should be like; I'll guarantee you one thing; when the coward Schettino comes to trial, he's going to be facing Cmdr. De Falco in the court room; and I think the "feelings" expressed here about Schettino are going to pale compared to what Cmdr. De Falco will say about him.

This man is so universally despised, not only by his countrymen, but also by the whole world; I don't ever remember another case like this that is so clear cut, where there just is no doubt in anyone's mind that he's guilty of all charges leveled against him; I can't imagine how any juror could help but agree to a guilty verdict.

I don't know enough about Costa Cruise Line to even have an opinion, but I will say I think they should be MUCH more "selective" about the character of the people they give command or a cruise ship to in the future.

Charley

Stupidity: Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result; Albert Einstein